My 2026 MacBook Air Developer Setup: Clean, Lean, and Reproducible

March 2, 2026 · 12 min read

MacOS
Developer Setup
Tooling
Productivity
Performance

I spent two days rebuilding my M2 MacBook Air after hitting the memory ceiling with app clutter. The strategy was ruthless: factory reset, then install only what I actually use. This guide documents the process and the setup I landed on.

The Problem

Over 18 months, my MacBook accumulated:

Multiple browser profiles with hundreds of tabs
Docker images I'd forgotten about
Orphaned Python virtual environments
Xcode command-line tools that I never fully cleaned
System caches for apps I no longer use

Result: 17 GB of swap on an M2 with 16 GB RAM. Mail would stall, Xcode/AndroidStudio builds would timeout, and simple context switches felt sluggish.

The realization: I didn't need a bigger Mac. I needed discipline.

Goals for the New Setup

Memory discipline: Know exactly what's running and why.
Small toolset: One shell, one terminal, one primary editor, intentional browser roles.
Reproducible: New Mac in minutes via Brewfile + config files.
Fast: Minimal startup overhead, no heavy frameworks or automation overhead.

1. Factory Reset (Erase All Content and Settings)

This was the hardest part for me psychologically, but the cleanest path.

Before I went ahead with the reset, I did the following:

Backup critical projects: Git push everything to GitHub, mostly some projects I started but lazy enough to not even create first commit.
Export configs: Create a backup_configs.zip containing:

Reset steps:

Go to System Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content and Settings.
Enter Apple ID password to sign out of iCloud.
Confirm the erase (takes ~10 minutes).
On reboot, select Set up as new (no Migration Assistant).

Result:

~198 GB free (on a 256 GB drive).
0 bytes swap on first boot.
It feels noticeably snappier immediately.

Reference: PCMag's factory reset guide

2. Base macOS Settings

I skipped the exotic tweaks and just enabled what helps:

Displays → Built-in Display:
Privacy & Security:
Apple Intelligence (beta): Skip for now (reduces background processing).
App-level zoom instead of changing resolution:

3. Install Homebrew

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Add to PATH (Apple Silicon)
echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
brew --version

Verify it works:

brew list

4. Brewfile: Package Everything

Create Brewfile in the home directory or repo root. This is the entire dev environment in one file:

# Brewfile

# Core tools
brew "git"
brew "wget"
brew "curl"
brew "gh"             # GitHub CLI for faster repo cloning + PRs
brew "uv"             # fast Python package & project manager (replaces pip/pipenv)
brew "atuin"          # better history for terminal
brew "rclone"         # because it's convinient management for remote drives

# Browsers
cask "google-chrome"  # job applications, work portals
cask "firefox"        # email, calendar, personal accounts
cask "brave-browser"  # distraction-free reading, ad blocking

# Terminal & Editors
cask "ghostty"        # primary terminal (minimal, fast)
cask "zed"            # primary editor (Rust-based, lightning fast)
cask "visual-studio-code"  # backup for extensions ecosystem
cask "sublime-text"   # optional lightweight edits

# Knowledge & notes
cask "obsidian"       # knowledge base

# Fonts (required for terminal)
cask "font-fira-code"
cask "font-fira-code-nerd-font"

# Utilities
cask "jiggler"            # stop screen from sleeping
cask "vlc"                # media playback
# cask "rectangle"        # comment out for now; add later if you miss it
cask "obsidian"
cask "slack"
cask "raycast"
cask "skim"
# cask "basictex"
cask "mactex"             # tex file compatibility
cask "zoom"
cask "proton-pass"
#cask "brave-browser"
cask "temurin"              # jdk dependency
cask "chromedriver"         # automation testing
cask "intellij-idea-ce"
cask "eclipse-java"

Install everything at once:

cd ~
brew bundle

Note: This will also check if any outdated brew packages are present within the system

following is taken from google search results:

brew outdated – Lists all installed formulae and casks that have newer versions available.
Use brew outdated --formula to list only command-line tools (formulae).
Use brew outdated --cask to list only GUI applications (casks).
Use brew outdated --greedy to include casks marked as "auto-updateable" or with version :latest.

On a new Mac, this brings you from zero to a full dev environment in ~20 minutes.

Why this specific list?

No Docker Desktop: Use OrbStack later if containers are needed (lighter).
No VS Code by default: Zed is my primary editor now; Code is for its extensions and my familarity over the years.
No Slack/Discord/WhatsApp: These are bandwidth hogs. Browser versions only. (This is what helped me significantly)
No Xcode: Install command-line tools only when needed: xcode-select --install.
Sublime: This is a no-brainer for me, I cannot thank the developer of this IDE enough. Its almost the only IDE I feel most comfortable with even after using I don't know how many :P

And how can I forget Sublime config. Here we go, my standard config:

{
  "save_on_focus_lost": true,
  "show_definitions": true,
  "preview_on_click": false,
  "goto_anything_exclude_gitignore": true,
  "ui_scale": 1.2,

  "rulers": [80, 120],
  "highlight_modified_tabs": true,
  "show_encoding": true,
  "show_line_endings": true,
  "scroll_speed": 2.0,


  "hot_exit": true,
  "font_face": "FiraCode Nerd Font",
  "font_size": 13,
  "line_padding_top": 2,
  "line_padding_bottom": 2,

  "font_options": ["liga"],

  "highlight_line": true,
  "caret_style": "phase",
  "wide_caret": true,

    "overlay_scroll_bars": "enabled",
    "show_tab_close_buttons": false,

  "scroll_past_end": true,
  "word_wrap": true,

  "draw_white_space": "selection",
  "trim_trailing_white_space_on_save": true,
  "ensure_newline_at_eof_on_save": true,

  "tab_size": 4,
  "translate_tabs_to_spaces": true,
    "detect_indentation": true,

  "index_files": true,

  "index_exclude_patterns":
  [
    "node_modules/*",
    "dist/*",
    "build/*"
  ],
  "theme": "Default Dark.sublime-theme",
  "folder_exclude_patterns":
    [
        ".svn",
        ".hg",
        "CVS",
        ".Trash",
        ".Trash-*",
        "node_modules",
        "dist",
        "build",
        ".cache",
        "__pycache__"
  ],
        "binary_file_patterns":
    [
        "*.png",
        "*.jpg",
        "*.jpeg",
        "*.gif",
        "*.zip",
        "*.tar.gz",
        "*.min.js"
  ],
  "ignored_packages":
  [
    "Vintage",
  ],
  "color_scheme": "Packages/Material Theme/schemes/Material-Theme-Palenight.tmTheme",
}

5. Shell Setup: Fast and Minimal

I deliberately skip heavy frameworks (no oh-my-zsh, no Starship) to keep startup under 100ms.

Edit ~/.zshrc:

# ============== PATH ==============
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Homebrew (fallback)
if [ -x /opt/homebrew/bin/brew ]; then
  eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
fi

# ============== HISTORY ==============
HISTSIZE=10000
SAVEHIST=10000
HISTFILE=~/.zsh_history
setopt SHARE_HISTORY        # share history across all open terminals
setopt HIST_IGNORE_DUPS     # ignore duplicate commands in history

# ============== ALIASES ==============
alias ll='ls -lah'
alias la='ls -A'
alias gs='git status'
alias gl='git log --oneline --graph --decorate'
alias gp='git push'
alias gc='git commit -m'

# ============== EDITOR ==============
export GIT_EDITOR="zed"     # use Zed for git commits

Reload:

source ~/.zshrc

Shell startup time check:

time zsh -i -c exit

Should be <100ms. If it's higher, something is slow. (Hint: oh-my-zsh plugins and heavy functions cause this.)

6. Ghostty Configuration

Ghostty is fast, GPU-accelerated, and has sane defaults. I only customize fonts and padding.

Create ~/.config/ghostty/config:

# Font and appearance
theme = GitHub Dark Default
font-family = "FiraCode Nerd Font"
font-size = 16
font-thicken = true
font-thicken-strength=1
adjust-cell-height=1

window-padding-x = 10
window-padding-y = 10

copy-on-select = true
confirm-close-surface = true
clipboard-paste-protection = false

background-opacity = 0.85
background-blur=16
background=#000000
macos-titlebar-style = hidden

Gotcha: After editing the config, fully quit and relaunch Ghostty (not just close the window). Cmd+Q then reopen.

If the theme or font doesn't exist, Ghostty silently falls back to defaults. Verify:

# Check if the font is installed
fc-list | grep -i "FiraCode"

Reference: Ghostty docs | Minimal config guide

7. Project Organization and Git Workflow

Keep projects under one directory:

mkdir -p ~/Developer
cd ~/Developer

Clone repos via GitHub CLI (faster than git clone for authenticated users):

gh auth login               # once per machine
gh repo clone <user>/<repo>

Monitor uncommitted work

Create a helper script ~/check_repos.sh:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Scanning for dirty git repos..."
find ~/Developer -name ".git" -type d 2>/dev/null | while read gitdir; do
  repo="${gitdir%/.git}"
  status=$(git -C "$repo" status --porcelain 2>/dev/null)
  unpushed=$(git -C "$repo" log --branches --not --remotes --oneline 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$status" || -n "$unpushed" ]]; then
    echo "⚠️  $repo"
    [[ -n "$status" ]] && echo "   Uncommitted changes"
    [[ -n "$unpushed" ]] && echo "   Unpushed commits"
  fi
done
echo "Done."

Make it executable:

chmod +x ~/check_repos.sh
./check_repos.sh

Run this before bed or before major system changes to catch uncommitted work.

8. Browser Discipline: Explicit Roles

One browser eating 8 GB of RAM because I had 300 tabs is a design failure, not a hardware failure.

Define explicit roles:

Rules:

Only open the browser I need for the task.
Close tabs regularly (max ~20 per window).
Use browser profiles to separate contexts.

This simple discipline prevents the "just one more tab" spiral.

9. Memory and Disk Hygiene

The setup is minimal, but discipline matters:

Monthly:

# Clean up old Homebrew cache
brew cleanup

# Check for large files
du -sh ~/Library/Caches/*

Weekly:

# Run the repo checker
~/check_repos.sh

Restart cadence:

Restart every 1–2 days to clear any memory leaks or swap buildup.
Monitor with Activity Monitor: Window → Memory.

Clear Quick Look cache (optional):

If PDF previews or image thumbnails are eating disk space:

qlmanage -r cache

This clears the Quick Look thumbnail cache. First previews after will rebuild; that's normal.

10. Restore Personal Files (After Everything Else)

Once the system is stable, restore personal data:

unzip ~/Personal.zip -d ~/Personal_restore
# Review and move files to appropriate locations

11. Optional: LaTeX (if needed)

If I have to write reasearch documentation or produce PDFs with formulas:

# Add to Brewfile
cask "mactex"

# Or to Homebrew formula list
brew install --cask mactex-no-gui   # CLI tools only, ~2 GB smaller

# Add to ~/.zshrc
export PATH="/Library/TeX/texbin:$PATH"

12. Future Additions (Only When Needed)

I have kept these in my back pocket:

Containers: Replace Docker Desktop with OrbStack (lighter, faster).
AI tools: Move from temporary credits to browser-based AI (Claude, Perplexity) or editor plugins.
Advanced terminal: tmux, custom keybindings—only if you find a genuine need.

Repository Structure

Store the setup in a GitHub repo (mac-dev-setup-2026):

mac-dev-setup-2026/
  ├── Brewfile
  ├── zshrc          (copy of ~/.zshrc)
  ├── ghostty-config (copy of ~/.config/ghostty/config)
  ├── check_repos.sh
  └── README.md

On a new Mac:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/mac-dev-setup-2026.git
cd mac-dev-setup-2026
brew bundle
cp zshrc ~/.zshrc
mkdir -p ~/.config/ghostty && cp ghostty-config ~/.config/ghostty/config

Done in 15 minutes.

Key Takeaway

The machine already had the power for the workloads I needed but The environment needed more intention.

By saying no to accumulated clutter and yes only to deliberate tools, I went from a sluggish 16 GB MacBook to one that feels lightweight and predictable. The factory reset hurt for an hour but the discipline pays dividends every day.

Have you done a full reset before? What's the longest you've gone without restarting your dev machine? Feel free to reach out with questions or your own setup hacks.